No Matter Where You Run
by Sanaaki
Summary: Duo has a hot new neighbor Heero. Will a romance develop between them? Read and see.


Title: No Matter Where You Run 1/?  
  
Chapter title: Howdy neighbor!  
  
Author: sanaaki  
  
Warnings: shounen-ai/yaoi, AU, romance, sap, humor   
  
Pairings: 1+2+1   
  
Disclaimer: Nothing belongs to me ;_;   
  
Archives: http://www.fanfiction.net/~sanaaki  
  
Notes: Duo's POV   
  
Feedback much appreciated.  
  
The phone rang several times. Unfortunately my body and mind failed to register this fact as I kept blindly hitting it several times trying to turn it off. As the last ring died out my eyes blearily opened, my eyes feeling like they had been glued shut. I stared at the ceiling trying to garner the willpower to simply get out of bed. Shifting to prop myself up with my elbow, I groaned in reaction as my head proceeded to remind me that it existed by pounding the pain in. Placing a hand to the side of my head as if it would help control the pain, I gingerly lurched myself out of bed and stumbled to the bathroom. I fell to the floor, embraced the porcelain god, and let loose the contents of my stomach. This was just not my day. I got up to brush my teeth and rinse my mouth and almost scared myself looking into the mirror. Blood shot eyes, long hair that could double as a rat's nest, and pasty white skin that looked as if it had never seen the light of day. Damage control was definitely in order. Clumsily opening the medicine cabinet, I tried to sort through the mess of expired bottles, unidentifiable medicine and whatnot, carelessly spilling various items into the sink. And what a surprise, no pain medication in sight. I could have cried right then, the headache really making itself at home especially right between my eyes. I really needed relief and fast. I staggered to the small kitchen and practically fell into the chair, holding my head, trying vainly not to move. Feeling nauseous, I contemplated my current dilemma. I cursed myself several times over and promised myself I would never drink again. Right.   
  
Then I had a moment of clarity. My salvation lay downstairs. Opening the window to the fire escape, I climbed out effortlessly, a feat that came with months of practice and went down the dark metal stairs to the window of the apartment below mine. I jostled the window a little and it opened easily, clearly an open invitation for me to climb in. I made my way to the bathroom, found the medicine cabinet, peered into it and found… absolutely nothing. Who doesn't have anything in their medicine cabinet? This definitely did not bode well.  
  
"Who are you and what are you doing in my bathroom?" a deep voice demanded, startling me from behind. I spun around and looked straight into deep blue eyes. Then I noticed the rest of him. One word. Hot. And one word was all I could manage at that moment as hangovers had a tendency to have the unfortunate effect of turning my brain into mush, no less compounded by the fact that it was early morning, another factor contributing to my decidedly laggard state. A state that many would swear under oath was quite a rare occurrence for me. Being speechless and static were not traits often attributed to me.  
  
We continued to stand there staring at each other. He had unruly, silky-looking, coffee colored hair just begging to be touched. His cheekbones were high, his jaw strong, his lips perfect and his eyes were one of a kind. Definitely god-like. His skin was smooth, and tanned golden. He was in incredible shape too. All lean strong muscles accentuated by a tight plain white t-shirt, just the way I like it. He also seemed to have some sort of mixed heritage which made him unique-looking, gorgeous and sexy as hell.  
  
"Well…?" He prompted me out of my reverie.  
  
"Um, where's Pete?" I managed to dig out of my repertoire of delightful, witty responses. Right.  
  
"I don't know any Pete."  
  
"Pete's the guy who lives here…" I offered, confused by this new turn of events, wondering if I had dropped into the Twilight zone.  
  
"I just moved in."  
  
"Oh." Did I say I was a good conversationalist? It was then that I noticed that everything was not as it was. I looked around at the new furniture, modern and simple in design. The apartment was clean, orderly and sparsely furnished, with a few scattered boxes, totally unlike Pete's old space. Pete had been a sports fanatic and said sports memorabilia and equipment seemed to be glaringly missing, including the hoops. Oops. Guess I just broke into some stranger's apartment. He was clearly still in the middle of unpacking.  
  
"Well I'm in dire need of pain medication. I don't suppose you can deliver?" I cheekily inquired, although if truth be known, the headache seemed to have miraculously disappeared. Who knew the remedy could be a hot guy? Someone should think about trying to market that. Could be something there.  
  
"Hn." He went over to the kitchen, reached high into one of the white cabinet doors, blue jeans pulling nice and tight over his gorgeous rear and pulled out the Tylenol. He put it on the table, went to the fridge, pulled out a bottle of water and tossed it to me which I deftly caught.  
  
"Wow thanks!" What a nice guy. I plopped myself into his kitchen chair. His kitchen was about the size of mine. I felt quite at home. I unscrewed the cap, popped a pill, and chugged down some water. My mouth and throat definitely felt cottony and the water felt wonderful. "I'm Duo. I live upstairs." He nodded acknowledgment but even I could see no information was forthcoming. Guess he was one of those antisocial, cold guys. Not to be put off, I pushed for more. "Do you have a name or should I just call you 'mysterious stranger'?"   
  
He looked as if he didn't want to answer but then resigned himself and sat down across from me. "Heero."  
  
"Unusual name. What language is that?"  
  
"Japanese."  
  
"I see. Cool. What do you do?"  
  
"I'm a writer."  
  
"Ah … out to write the great American novel?"  
  
Heero looked taken aback and shrugged.  
  
"Make any money doing that?"  
  
"I support myself doing other things…" he replied cryptically. The question seemed to make him feel uncomfortable, although it was hard to tell since his expression didn't change much. But I was pretty good at reading people and his eyes gave it away. This was not a topic that he was interested in pursuing. I wasn't one to push…much, so I let it go.  
  
"Ah a starving artist type? That's very cool. You'll have to let me read what you write one of these days." I said enthusiastically. Then we sat in silence some more. Well as much fun as this was, I probably long overstayed my welcome.  
  
"Oh wow look at the time!" I exclaimed, making a production of looking at his clock. "Well anyway, I guess I better jet. See you later. Thanks for the relief!" I smiled and made towards the fire escape.  
  
"You can use the door you know…" he interrupted, while I was halfway between his apartment and the fire escape, straddling his window sill.  
  
I looked back at him and smiled. "Now what would be the fun of that?" I winked, turned back and continued my scramble out and back to the haven that was my apartment. I thought about Heero. It might be nice to have him as a neighbor. I'd miss Pete but Heero didn't seem half bad. Maybe we could be friends. I shrugged and went to take a shower to get ready to go out.  
  
TBC? 


End file.
